Question: Just how is it that God calls sinners to serve Him?

No one can ever become a follower of Jesus without God leading us to follow Him.

"The call of God is not for a special few but it is in fact for anyone who has the heart, ears and eyes to answer."- Oswald Chambers  

Isaiah 6:1-14

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

10 Make the heart of this people dull,

    and their ears heavy,

    and blind their eyes;

lest they see with their eyes,

    and hear with their ears,

and understand with their hearts,

    and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

And he said:

“Until cities lie waste

    without inhabitant,

and houses without people,

    and the land is a desolate waste,

12 and the Lord removes people far away,

    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13 And though a tenth remain in it,

    it will be burned again,

like a terebinth or an oak,

    whose stump remains

    when it is felled.”

The holy seed is its stump.

II Chronicles 26:16 

16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

When it comes to our individual calling we are to take it:

1.seriously 

2. faithfully. 

3. Responsibly 

What he sees 

Sees himself 

Sees his sin

Sees God 

Psalm 51:1-4 

Have mercy on me, O God,

    according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

    blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

    and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,

    and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

    and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

    and blameless in your judgment.

Indwelling presence of God 

Manifest presence of God 

1. God's sovereign person 

2. God's sanctifying power

3. God's sending plan

Isaiah 6:6-7

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

1. Receives a sanctifying touch 

2. Receives a supernatural touch from God 

God brought Isaiah to the alter and he didn't leave him the same. 

Isaiah 6:8

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

II Corinthians 4:7

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.